What is your worming programme?

Mary Poppins

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Oct 10, 2004
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Our yard has finally decided that we can have control over our worming programmes. So instead of having to follow the blanket approach to worming (i.e. all horses are wormed at set intervals), we can now egg count and do it ourselves. I have spoken to my vet and joined in with their yearly plan where they provide 3 egg counts per year. They suggest we do the following:

  • Worm all horses in Autumn after the first frost. I can't remember the name of the wormer but it is designed to kill anything in the system.
  • Worm all horses in spring as soon as the frosts stop. I think this is for tape worm which doesn't show up on the egg counts.
  • After the first wormer in spring, egg count every 12 weeks and then worm accordingly.
Is this what you all do, and if not, what do you do differently?
 
I worm with moxidectin and praziquantel (equest Pramox) in the autunm and spring to get the encysted redworms and tapes (and everything else) and do a FEC mid summer normally, I only do 1 generally as they have been zero count for years and are not on shared grazing, bit different this year as Dan arrived and was riddled so I have given extra doses of moxidectin during the summer, will FEC them all next year.
 
I worm count & only worm if the results show I need to. In the autumn I get a blood test done for tapes & again only worm if the result says I need to.

If I do need to worm for roundworms etc then I do a 5 day Panacur Guard which also covers encysteds. I'm going to have to talk to my vets if I need to worm for tapes as before I'd use Equitape (praziquantel) but that's no longer available as a single drug & he reacts badly to the drugs it's combined with, hopefully they can prescribe the human form of the drug since there's not an equine version now.
 
I worm with moxidectin and praziquantel (equest Pramox) in the autunm and spring to get the encysted redworms and tapes (and everything else) and do a FEC mid summer normally, I only do 1 generally as they have been zero count for years and are not on shared grazing, bit different this year as Dan arrived and was riddled so I have given extra doses of moxidectin during the summer, will FEC them all next year.
The same as my vet recommends then. They will send me the wormers in the post. Ben is on shared grazing and it isn’t poo picked but is huge and well rested and rotated. I don’t think everyone on my yard is keen on routinely worming in spring and summer and I wonder if everyone does this?
 
The same as my vet recommends then. They will send me the wormers in the post. Ben is on shared grazing and it isn’t poo picked but is huge and well rested and rotated. I don’t think everyone on my yard is keen on routinely worming in spring and summer and I wonder if everyone does this?
Will your YO be getting proof of FEC's from everyone or just trusting that everyone will do the FEC's and worm appropriately?
 
I worm count & only worm if the results show I need to. In the autumn I get a blood test done for tapes & again only worm if the result says I need to.

If I do need to worm for roundworms etc then I do a 5 day Panacur Guard which also covers encysteds. I'm going to have to talk to my vets if I need to worm for tapes as before I'd use Equitape (praziquantel) but that's no longer available as a single drug & he reacts badly to the drugs it's combined with, hopefully they can prescribe the human form of the drug since there's not an equine version now.
Do you routinely treat for encysted redworm? as those can cause a big prob if they build up too much and won't show on a FEC. You can double dose pancure (Fenbendazole) for tapes, is he ok with that? I've always considered myself lucky that none of mine struggle with the combined drugs, Jess with metabolic problems and the mini's being mini's makes them all more likely to.
 
Do you routinely treat for encysted redworm? as those can cause a big prob if they build up too much and won't show on a FEC. You can double dose pancure (Fenbendazole) for tapes, is he ok with that? I've always considered myself lucky that none of mine struggle with the combined drugs, Jess with metabolic problems and the mini's being mini's makes them all more likely to.

Panacur doesn't cover tapes even at double dose, you're thinking of Strongid P (pyrantel) & unfortunately that has triggered a bout of laminitis both times I've tried it. By doing a 5 day Panacur Guard if he does need worming I also cover encysteds, and if at no point in the year he's needed worming then I'll do a course of it in January or February. Mind you there is a school of thought that says if there's a long history of clear counts there's unlikely to be a problem with encysteds either - I don't know how true that is though.
 
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Panacur doesn't cover tapes even at double dose, you're thinking of Strongid P (pyrantel) & unfortunately that has triggered a bout of laminitis both times I've tried it. By doing a 5 day Panacur Guard if he does need worming I also cover encysteds, and if at no point in the year he's needed worming then I'll do a course of it in January or February. Mind you there is a school of thought that says if there's a long history of clear counts there's unlikely to be a problem with encysteds either - I don't know how true that is though.
You are right, I knew it was one I hadn't used in forever :rolleyes: I would think if they have been clear for 3 or 4 years then there is unlikely to be a large encysted burden, unfortunately you wouldn't know if they had just picked some up tho and possibly wouldn't see them on counts for a good while after infection due to the lifecycle, honestly I wouldn't worry if I had clear counts and no coming and going, but as we go to holiday paddocks most summers its just not worth the risk of not dosing for those, for me :)
 
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Yard programme but we FEC first so only the horses that need worming get treated. But also, because it is a yard blanket programme, you know that all the horses are being monitored.

This will be the first autumn that we all do the saliva test for tapeworm too. Read an article in one of the freebie horse mags from the tack shop recently where some famous SJ'er, who has a huge yard and swapped to the saliva test found only 8 horses needed doing over a timescale when 160 horses would have been blanket tapewormed in the past! :eek:
 
Our yard does a blanket worming program but YO wouldn’t mind if anyone wanted to swap to the vet’s plan. I’ve been thinking about joining the vet scheme, partly because you get a discount off certain meds (inc Prascend) for lifelong conditions. At the moment it wouldn’t be any cheaper for me to join, but if Raf’s Prascend dose goes up it will be.

I can’t remember without looking what the worming program is, but I know it included both FEC and tapeworm saliva test.

Several years ago one of the youngsters on the yard had a bad allergic reaction to a wormer, she developed hives and then all her hair fell out in patches. She recovered well but went on in to develop sweet itch and I wonder whether her extreme reaction triggered a skin problem issue, or if it was the other way round, or totally unconnected o_O
 
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I hate the idea of blanket worming. I worm count and only worm if necessary - it hasn't been for the last couple of years. I did worm for tape regularly but have done a saliva test this autumn. It showed that Ziggy needed treating so he has been treated.
 
Will your YO be getting proof of FEC's from everyone or just trusting that everyone will do the FEC's and worm appropriately?

The yard is mainly full/part livery so I think that the yard staff will do the worming on behalf of the owners so it should be in hand.

Ben's worm count from yesterday came back at 45 which the vet said was fine. She said that I won't need to worm for normal worms until his level is 200. However I am going to worm him with Equest Pramox for tapeworm after the first frost in November and then my horse care plan provides 3 egg counts over the summer.
 
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I hate the idea of blanket worming. I worm count and only worm if necessary - it hasn't been for the last couple of years. I did worm for tape regularly but have done a saliva test this autumn. It showed that Ziggy needed treating so he has been treated.

I haven't heard of a saliva test for tapeworm. My vets have said that a blood test is the only way to detect tape worm? Is the saliva test relatively new?
 
When i was on the yard I generally wormed 3-4 times a year with an appropriate wormer for the time off year. My horses never mixed with any others and the two fields were alternated every two months. I've only ever had one poo sample done which was before I ever put the two horses in together. I remember chunkys came back very low so my worming program clearly was working. Billy's was a little high so the vet recommended I worm him. It was not long after I brought him, so he could have been already infested.
Since I've had them home. I've rotated the horses to a new peice of pasture each calendar month. During the summer i had 3 paddocks for rotation so the paddocks were rested for at least 8 complete weeks between each grazing. They are now off those summer paddocks and on the hay fields for six months Which again I'm rotating on a monthly basis. Hopefully they will only go on each section once over the winter. So they won't be back one each bit for twelve months. So worm wise there should be no problem.
I have the vet coming out in a couple of weeks to do vacinations so if we are lucky and the boys decide to perform I might scoop up the poos and ask the vet to take samples for testing. I'm hoping that with my grazing rotation the pasture should be basically clean and the samples will come back low or zero.
I wonder if it is possible that I would only need to worm twice a year with the way I've worked out the grazing rotation.
 
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@chunky monkey it's possible, but without FECs & tests for tapes I wouldn't rely on it. Some horses seem to be very susceptible no matter how managed while others have a high degree of natural resistance. I'd also want a series of clear tests, not just one, and would continue with regular FECs. Talk to your vet, most of them are pretty clued up on it nowadays, and there's also a lot out there on the internet.
 
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